
Book C ^3 '^ 



SPEECHES 



James S. Barcus, William R. 

Wood, Thos. J. Li>jdley 

AND E. E. Hendee 



INDIANA SENATE 

FEB. 3, 1903 



RELATING TO 

A BILL for an act to pro-vide a statue of 
George Rogers Clark /or the National 
Statuary Hall in the Capitol at fVash- 
ington, D. C, appropriating money 
therefor, authorizing the Governor to 
appoint a commission and to carry out 
the provisions thereof, and declaring 
an emergency. [Minority report favor- 
ing substitution of name of Thomas A. 
Hendricics.] 



OCT 17 l90iJ 



speech by James S. Barcus, Indiana Senate, 
February J, IQOJ. 

Mk, President: 

The 63rd General Assembly, with its j)repoiideratiiig- majority, 
could have enacted partisan legislation with reference to the pro- 
posed statue, but, rising above partisanship, the majority of your 
coniinittee on federal relations has offered the name of one who 
dates back of present political divisions and whose life towers 
above party prejudice. Let it be observed of all men, therefore, 
that the partisan discussion upon this occasion has been injected 
by the minority insisting upon a substitute report favoring a dis- 
tinct partisan. I appeal to you to vote down the minority report. 

The hall in which the house of representatives used to meet for 
deliljeration has fittingly been set aside as the recipient of historic 
symbols, the statues of great men of the United States. In order 
that it might be like the Hall of Congress, itself truly representa- 
tive of all parts of the United States, Congress provided by resolu- 
tion, on July 2, 1864, that the president of the United States 
should invite the several states of the Union each to contribute 
two statues. Some of the statues have been placed there by the 
Nation, some by private contribution. For the most part the 
states have followed the custom of selecting at least one pioneer 
hero. They have also followed the custom of selecting one mili- 
tary hero, and one who has distinguished himself in civil life. It 
is, therefore, both a matter of precedent and of propriety for our 
State to select at least one pioneer military hero. That legislative 
hall of immortals coming back from the spirit world symbolized 
in enduring marble is already fairly representative of our national 
creation, growth and preservation, but it is not complete. Wash- 
ington is there— the father of his country— and with him are 
Roger Sherman, the patriot, the signer, and Jonathan Trumbull, 
Washington's friend and adviser, whom he called ''Brother Jona- 
than." John P. Muhlenberg is there, the man who left his pulpit 
to support WBshington in arms. Ethan Allen is there, the colonel 

: -^3- 



of the Green Mountain boys. There are there Major-General 
George Washington and his co-workers in the Revolutionary War, 
so far as pertained to the original thirteen states and their terri- 
tories. 

Lincoln is there, and by his side are Lewis Cass, James A. Gar- 
field, Jacob Collamer and Daniel Webster. Lincoln, the great 
civilian of our rebellion period, surrounded by his military co- 
horts ; and, by the gift of Indiana to the work of that great 
period, another hero is there. The 61st General Assembly of the 
State of Indiana, in the year 1899, authorized the erection of a 
statue of Oliver P. Morton in Statuary Hall. The ceremonies at- 
tending the acceptance of this statue at Washington, on the 14tli 
day of April, 1900, were imposing. Addresses were delivered by 
both Senators Fairbanks and Beveridge in the senate, as well as by 
many other LTnited States senators, and in the house by nearly 
every member of the Indiana delegation. It was a proud honor 
to Indiana to be able to send to the silent hall of immortal repre- 
sentatives our own immortal war governor. It was fitting that this 
should be done, for what Lincoln was to the Union, Morton was to 
the State of Indiana. Aye, more, what Lincoln was to the Union, 
Morton was to the entire central west. Aye, more, what Lincoln 
was in achievement of union and liberty, he might not have been, 
probably would not have been, but for the assistance and the in- 
spiring example of Morton. As to a contemporary hero from the 
civil lists Indiana has her full representation in Oliver P. Morton. 
Lincoln and Morton, the preservers of the Union and of this 
commonwealth. 

Washington, though surrounded by many of his lieutenants, still 
lacks the company of one of them upon whose single self turned 
the fate of the State of Indiana. What Washington was to the 
Union, this man was to the State of Indiana. Aye, more, what 
Washington was to the Union, this man was to the territory out of 
which has been carved Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wis- 
consin. Aye, more, what Washington was in crystalizing the 
dechiration of independence into tangible substance, what Wash- 
ington was in bringing the British foe to a final surrender at 
Yorktown, he might not have been, probably would not have been, 
l)ut for the assistance of this man who wrested the northwest from 
the British and diverted their forces so as to make Washington's 



work easier in tlie east, and who held the northwest in military 
control so that when the treaty of Paris was signed providing for 
the status quo according to military possession, the northwest, in- 
cluding the State of Indiana, became a part of the United States 
territory beyond any dispute, and the man who did this splendid 
work was the Virginia cavalier, the Indian fighter, the pioneer, 
the soldier, the patriot — George Kogers Clark. Let there be har- 
mony in that silent statuary hall. Let us send Clark there so that 
sightseers and students of our history and of our art in this age 
and in succeeding ages may see the beautiful story symbolized 
there. Washington the father of his country, Clark the father of 
the great northwest. Washington and Clark, the creators of our 
republic ; Lincoln and Morton the preservers of our republic. 
These four might well be picked out as the four massive columns 
on which to build the eternal fortress of independence, union and 
liberty. 

This General Assembly is about to be asked for a liberal ap- 
propriation to make a proper exhibit of our resources at the Ex- 
position in St. Louis, in 1904, to celebrate the hundredth anni- 
versary of the acquirement of the Louisiana territory. That 
territory was purchased for the sum of $15,000,000, and yet we 
count it worth spending a large sum, perhaps $200,000, even by 
this State, to celebrate the happy day when we made such a bar- 
gain. While the territory of the northwest was secured to us, not 
by purchase, not at cost of money, but by the heroic, persistent, 
patriotic purpose and effort of that matchless Revolutionary 
leader, George Rogers Clark, is it not worth while for us to 
pause and celebrate that event by the appropriate action proposed 
in the majority report of your Committee on Federal Relations ? 

As you stand in the center of statuary hall and look above the 
entrance, you see the magnificent marble clock done by Franzoni. 
There is carved a chariot whose wheels indicate the flight of time 
as it hurries around the globe, about which are carved the signs 
of the zodiac. In the chariot stands Clio, the Muse of History, 
with the stylus in one hand and the marble slab in the other, 
whereby she records the events of United States history. She 
must record the truth and nothing but the truth. If she could do 
otherwise, she would not be the Muse of Llistory. 



6 

Whatever may be the errors of men, history never errs. It 
may be written wrong, but the history itself is as true as the 
north star. The Muse of History is but a spark from the Divinity 
himself, and she can not but tell the truth. Let no state or in- 
dividual put upon her the necessity of recording anything of 
which future generations might be ashanied. When Washington 
was placed there, she could say he was a patriot and a great 
military organizer, that he suffered hardships at the Delaware and 
at the Brandywine, conquered the British and received the sword 
of Lord Cornwallis in surrender at Yorktown. When Muhlen- 
berg was placed there, we may presume she wrote "he was a 
great, good man; standing in his pulpit at the beginning of the 
Revolutionary War, he preached a sermon' of patriotism, and at 
the close, stepped from his pulpit exclaiming, 'there is a time for 
everything, a time to preach, a time to fight, and this is the time to 
fight,' and with dramatic effect he threw off" his cloak and revealed 
his military uniform. He went to the field, became a general and 
was with Washington at the final surrender." When Ethan Allen 
was placed there she told of his heroic deeds ; and so of Roger 
Williams, Jonathan Trumbull, Roger Shernum, Richard Stockton, 
George Clinton, Alexander Hamilton, K'athaniel Greene and the 
other great representatives of the people. 

When Morton was placed there, three years ago, she told of 
his civil heroism; she wrote upon her marble slab the story of 
the beginning of the war. When father Abraham called for 
75,000 troops Morton immediately telegraphed him that Indiana 
would supply 10,000, and how, in response to this patriotic call, 
12,000 men had enlisted in the State of Indiana within one week, 
and that this was three-fold patriotism on the part of those who 
followed the magic lead of our splendid War Governor, for she 
notes in passing that our quota would have been but 4,683. She 
then wrote of Indiana's subsequent work in sending 150 regiments 
of infantry, 13 regiments of cavalry, one regiment and 25 com- 
panies of artillery and 2,130 men for the navy. She noted that 
this brought the aggregate of Indiana's contribution up to 210,401 
soldiers, that Indiana sent her best blood, and that she was second 
to none either in per cent, or proficiency of service, and that the 
patriotism of her sons was due in a large measure to the inspiring 
leadership of Morton, against whom were arrayed talented and 



able men who were opposed to the preservation of the Union. The 
Muse of History recorded that Morton took care of his soldiers, 
fed them, clothed them and stood responsible personally where 
necessary. She recorded that he was not only a great war hero, 
but that in the halls of congress he was a peerless statesman, and 
that in the executive chair he was unexcelled as the wise ruler of 
his state, and that he was at all times a patriot. Thus has Clio, 
the Muse of History, written. 

What shall she write next as to the State of Indiana? If this 
senate should concur in the minority report, and the 63rd General 
Assembly should send to that hall the statue of Thomas A, Hen- 
dricks, what would the Muse say '^ For, remember, she must tell 
the truth. What is the history? Tor that is what she would 
write. And she must write the whole truth ; she can not skip a 
portion of his life and say from there on he was a statesman and 
patriot, for she is not the Muse of Fiction, nor of Imagination, 
but she is the Muse of History. If she could skip a part she 
might say Hendricks was an intellectual man ; that his purpose 
was unsullied ; that he was affable and industrious in the interests 
of the people whom he represented; that he performed the 
nominal duties of vice-president in an irreproachable manner; 
that he was sincere in his theory of national taxation ; and that 
his views upon other questions in a time of profound peace were 
prompted by an honest heart. 

But thus much she could write only after skipping a portion of 
his life, and that she can not do ; for she is the Muse of History. 
Should she see his statue come through the portals of that hall 
and see it placed upon its pedestal — another subject for her record 
— she would be compelled to say: "In the time of his country's 
need and despair, while Oliver P. Morton Avas straining every 
nerve, racking his brain and striving by almost superhuman effort 
to put down the rebellion, Thomas A. Hendricks was doing all 
that he could to keep up the rebellion." She would say that the 
patriotic response of the sons of Hoosier soil to the call of Lincoln 
and Morton was not due to the patriotism of Hendricks, but that 
that patriotic response was in spite of the lack of patriotism of 
Hendricks. She would record the sad, true fact that his great 
intellectuality can not be pleaded in extenuation of wrong pur- 
pose, but rather that it afforded ground for the expectation ■ that 



he would shape his course in accordance with the best interests 
of the people, and that this intellectuality gave to him an influence 
and a power of leadership so great as to increase rather than 
decrease his responsibility for wrong doing. 

The figure over the door of that splendid hall is not the goddess 
of revenge. If she were, she would like no better occupation than 
the opportunity of writing in immutable letters the story of Hen- 
dricks' life during the war of our rebellion. But it is Clio, the 
Muse of History. It gives her neither pain nor pleasure to write 
the story as it is. There would be no vindictiveness in it when he 
was wrong; no exultation when he was right. It would be merely 
the plain, unvarnished story, that though his voice may after- 
wards have become the voice of Jacob, his hand was then the 
hand of Esau. 

We may presume that in that hall of dead heroes and states- 
men, they review the past from time to time, perhaps make it a 
reality. Perhaps they legislate over again the questions that once 
concerned them. If we may imagine such to be the case, what 
would be the opinion of all the others with reference to the State 
of Indiana if they should happen to take up again the burning 
question of Union or Secession? Would the other states not be 
inclined to suspect that we had sent Morton and Hendricks there 
to pair their votes ? That Indiana stood on neutral grounds ? 
Fellow senators, that is p.ot the way to write history. The spirit 
of Hendricks might well cry out to be delivered from his friends. 
We are willing to spread the blanket of charity and tolerance over 
him, but his over-zealous and incautious friends rudely tear off 
the mantle and drag him into an unequal contest with our patriots 
before the bar of history. 

When we put a statue there, let it be that of a man whose life 
is a lesson which might be written upon the heavens in letters of 
fire. 

What will the Muse of History say when we place in that hall, 
as we shall, the statue of George Rogers Clark? Indiana sent her 
Morton to keep company with Lincoln for evermore, as they had 
been companions in a great purpose in life. Now Indiana is about 
to complete the record by sending to George Washington to keep 
company with him for evermore one who was his companion in 
another great purpose in life. Clark, the pioneer. It was his 



9 

prowess and daring that made Indiana. Bnt for him, when the 
treaty was signed in 1783, this territory wonld have been a part 
of the province of Qnebec, and could have come to the United 
States only by subsequent conquest or purchase, as in the case of 
Louisiana Territory. 

George Rogers Clark was born- with the spirit of adventure, 
and he was destined to a life of hardship. The coat of arms of 
the Rogers family was the Elk's head and antlers, with the motto, 
"Do justice and fear not." While but a boy he crossed the 
Alleghanies and studied Fort IN^^ecessity, Fort Pitt and Fort Du- 
quesne, and there contemplated the work, the spirit and the ambi- 
tion of Washington. Like Washington he set out as a surveyor 
while but a youth. He early took part in Indian warfare and 
became a major of the militia under Lord Dumnore in Dunmore's 
war. 

When General Handlton began his pernicious campaign in the 
west to draw off and divide Washington's forces in the east, and 
to make the work of Lord Cornwallis easier ; when Hamilton, to 
do this, had resorted to the barbarous custom of offering to the 
Indians a premium for the scalps of white men promiscuously, and 
at a time when the patriots of the original states were almost in 
despair, the pioneer leader needed for the important work of turn- 
ing the tide of victory was furnished by Llim, who so mysteriously, 
yet so wiseh'', shaped the destiny of this chosen people in those 
dark days. George Rogers Clark stepped into the arena stripped 
for die combat and armed with courage and a zeal for liberty. 
He had personally sent spies to ascertain the military situation 
in the northwest. He got himself accredited to the Virginia 
legislature and made the journey there to ask for a commission 
and suj^plies to do the very thing which Patrick Henry and his 
compatriots knew was needed, and yet all but he doubted. The 
story of this journey ftoin Kentucky to Virginia would do justice 
to knights in search of the holy grail. Footsore and weary, after 
hazard and escape, such as characterized Washington's journey 
for Governor Dinwiddle, he arrived at the capital of Virginia 
after the legislature had adjourned. He prayed the executive 
council to grant him powder and expenses to raise troops and 
proceed with. the invasion of the northwest. The executive coun- 
cil, though advised by Governor Patrick Henry, had no power to 



10 

grant his request, except in anticipation of snbseqnent legislative 
ratification. They asked Clark to guarantee the expenses, which 
he indignantly declined to do, and so masterful was his mein and 
so determined his pur2)ose to proceed with his campaign on inde- 
pendent lines, that they reconsidered and gave him an order on 
Pittsburgh for five hundred pounds of powder. The expedition 
was blessed with the cordial advice of Patrick Henry, Thomas 
Jefferson, George Wythe and George Mason. Thus started the 
real work which made us a part of the Union. C^lark set out with 
but 170 men, and after a trying journey overland and down the 
river, landed at Corn Island at the falls of the Ohio. There, on 
the day planned to cross the river into what is now this state, it 
so chanced that the morning awoke with an eclipse of the sun 
which so aroused the superstition of his men that they mutinied, 
but by the mastery of his leadership he succeeded in holding the 
most of them together, and down the river they rowed with oars 
double banked, displaying such vigor that a description of the 
journey reminds one forcibly of the galley slave scene in Ben Ilur. 
Then they marched overland to Kaskaskia, one of the strongholds 
of the British where Fort Chartres was manned with sufficient 
force to have stayed a siege of ten times Clark's army. But by 
Clark's keen strategy, and by a providential intervention, he took 
possession without firing a shot. The British officers and French 
Creoles were there enjoying the revelry and dissipation of a ball, 
like Belshazzar on the night Babylon fell. And the great Clark, 
like Cyrus the Great, captured the enemy by complete surprise. 
Before they knew they were completely surrounded and cut oft" 
from their own arms, the tall figure of this '"Big Knife" chief 
stood on the ball-room floor, and he gazed at the merrymakers 
for several minutes before they noticed him. When the British 
and Indians realized what had happened, they were thrown into 
a panic of consternation ; then Colonel Clark calmly told them to 
go on with the dance, and that they woukl be unmolested, only 
that they must remember that they were no longer dancing under 
the Union Jack, but under the Stars and Stripes. 

Colonel Clark then sent a small detachment to Vincennes and 
the American flag took the place of the British flag there. The red, 
white and blue was hoisted for the first time on Indiana soil by 
men under command of Clark July 16, 1778. The British recap- 



11 

tiired Fort Sackville at Viueemies December 15, 1778. Then 
Clark found the opportunity afforded by desperate conditions. 
But Clark proved himself equal to the emergency. The gravity of 
the situation may be partly imagined by noting the language of 
William H. English in that magnificent work entitled ''Conquest 
of the Northwest." Speaking of this crisis, English says: '^'He 
was far from the source of his supplies, with a superior force and 
a strong fort intervening. He was destitute of money, provisions 
and other necessaries with no possible hope of aid from any quar- 
ter. But now he displayed that great genius, strength of character 
and indomitable energy whicli ranks him with the first commanders 
of that period. Clark himself wrote to Governor Patrick Henry 
as follows: 'As it is now nearly twelve months since I have had 
the least intelligence from you, I almost despair of any relief sent 
to me. Being sensible that, without reinforcements, which at 
present I have hardly a right to ex])ect, I shall be obliged to give 
up the country to Mr. Hamilton without a turn of fortune in my 
favor, I am resolved to take advantage of this present situation 
and risk the whole in a single battle. I shall set out in a few days 
with all the forces I can raise of my own troops and a few militia 
that I can depend upon, amounting in the whole to only 170 men. 
I know the case is desperate, but, sir, we must either quit the 
country or take Mr. Hamilton. Xo time is to be lost. Was I 
sure of reinforcements I should not attempt it. Who knows what 
fortune will do for us ? Great things have been effected by a very 
few men well conducted. Perhaps we may be fortunate. We 
have this consolation, that our cause is just, and that our country 
will be grateful and not condemn our conduct in case we fall 
through.' " 

You will observe from this that Colonel Clark was practically 
his own commander-in-chief and board of strategy. It was a 
grave responsibility which he assumed when he took the desperate 
leap across the prairie to settle the fate of this territory. But he 
had learned that because of the hard winter season, British Gen- 
eral Hamilton, at Vincennes, had not brought on his reinforce- 
ments aud did not contemplate an attack upon Kaskaskia, and 
he had learned that Hamilton also relied upon the severe winter 
to stay the progress of the Americans. It was the psychological 
moment to strike, and with the blessing of Father (iibault, and 



12 

amid the applause of the inhabitants whom he had so recently 
conquered, but who had come to respect and trust him, he set out. 
For the first few days of the march the small band of men of 
about 170 troops fared passing well. They found buffalo and deer 
and were on comparatively dry land; but soon the}' came to 
swollen streams and the weather turned cold. But, nothing 
daunted, in they plunged, and marched in the water by day with 
but now and then a dry spot ujDon which to rest at night. At the 
end of twelve days they came to Embarrass Kiver. They had been 
in the swamps and bottoms so long that they had found no animal 
life. Their food supply was exhausted. They found this river 
impassable. They spent nearly a whole day marching down the 
river directly out of their course until they found a place where 
they could make boats to cross over. On they marched, now with 
scarcely a mouthful to eat — a whole army out of rations. Plung- 
ing into the wilderness for what? For the patriotic purpose of 
doing what they could to wrest this fair land from the tyrannical 
throne across the sea. And on they marched through water three 
and four feet deep. When sixteen days had elapsed, the little baud 
showed signs of despair. No wonder some of the soldiers faltered. 
They were nearly starved. Their courage was gone. They 
thought the end was at hand. When they came within ten miles 
of Vincennes there still lay before them Horse Shoe Plain, a 
stretch of four miles of water waist deep. So nearly were his 
men beyond control that Clark was compelled to resort to different 
kinds of strategy to keep up their spirits. He placed a drummer 
boy upon the shoulders of his strongest soldier and sent to the 
rear of the column a detachment of his most trusted followers, who 
still shared his courage and strength. He then informed his 
troops that he had placed these guards behind and had commanded 
them to shoot every man that faltered. Then with words of good 
cheer he started a song, and sprang into the water, the soldiers 
taking up the chorus and following after him. They waded ice- 
glazed water to their necks. When they came to the other side 
where the water was somewhat shallower, many of the men had 
to hold on to trees to keep from falling over in the water. Their 
strength seemed entirely gone, but by good fortune some squaws 
and children happened along with some provisions in a canoe, 
which were captured, the first mouthful of food they had had for 



13 

nearly four days. But somehow the spark of life kept dimly 
glowing. The command was still to march on. And on they 
marched, until finally they came within sight of Vincennes, and 
there this march of one hundred and sixty miles in twenty days 
of humility and god-fearing trust ended in a triumph of which 
Gaesar might well have been proud, l^o wonder John Randolph, 
of Roanoke, dubbed Clark the ^'Hannibal of the West." ISTo wonder 
John Law says : "The United States are more indebted to George 
Rogers Clark than to any other general of the revolution — Wash- 
ing-ton alone excepted." N^o wonder John B. Dillon says that this 
"expedition stands without a parallel in the early annals of the 
Mississippi." 'No wonder William II. English regarded Clark as 
the greatest military genius who had to do with Indiana soil. ISTo 
wonder Jacob P. Dunn, a thorough-going historian, says: "Of 
all those who preceded or followed him. La Salle is the only one 
who can be compared to the wonderful combination of genius, 
activity and courage that lifted him above his fellows." No 
wonder Julia S. Conklin says Clark's name "should be on the list 
of Indiana's honored men." No wonder Theodore Roosevelt, in 
liis hero tales of American history, selects Clark as one of his 
subjects and gives to him the credit of securing to the United 
States the territory of the northwest which otherwise, in the 
language of Roosevelt, "woidd have remained a part of the British 
Dominion of Canada." In a letter to George Mason, Clark said : 
"If I was sensible that you would let no person see this relation, 
I would give you a detail of our sufferings for four days in cross- 
ing those waters, and the manner it was done, as I am sure that 
you would credit it, but it is too incredible for any person to 
believe except those that are as well acquainted with me as you 
are, or had experience something similar to it." 

Clark Avas one of the gigantic light-houses that guided the 
mariner of our ship of state upon the dark billowy waters of doubt 
amid the tempest of war, and by whose warning light we have 
reached the haven of peace and anchored by the shore of plenty 
and happiness. Greater heroism was never displayed by the 
proudest son of any nation than that which Clark lived through 
riffht here on our own soil — our soil because he was a hero. 
Neither Marathon nor Thermopylae can boast a braver Milti- 
ades or Leonidas than can Indiana her George Rogers Clark. 



14 

Horatius at the bridge would have acknowledged Clark his peer. 
Neither the Alps nor the Steppes of Russia presented more real 
barriers to Caesar and ISTapoleon than did the swamp lands and 
forests from Kaskaskia to Vincennes to our pioneer and benefac- 
tor, George Rogers Clark. The hardships and privations he en- 
dured equalled, if they did not exceed, the hardships and privations 
of Washington and his bare-foot troops on the frozen field of Val- 
ley Forge. Let a grateful people appreciate the fruits of it all. 

I^ow that they had come upon Vincennes, the difficult task of 
making the capture still lay before a famished and exhausted little 
band, outnumbered by a well-fed, well-trained foe. But Clark was 
familiar with every art of strategy and diplomacy. He was a 
great general, a Cromwell to command, a Ben Franklin to per- 
suade. If mere dogged persistency entitled men to monuments, 
the competitive class would be larger ; but Clark had this and 
more. When the hour of final opportunity came, he was the man 
of that hour. He refused the proffered aid of the Indians. He 
resorted to no treachery nor flattery. He dealt in no presents or 
blandishments in his work with the Indians, and he took no chances 
on their treachery when they offered to help him capture Vin- 
cennes, but with consummate tact he informed them that he had 
plenty of soldiers without them. He thus made them his voluntary 
messengers to Hamilton. He sent to General Hamilton, by one 
of his own men, the following note : 

Sir — In order to save yourself from the impending storm that now 
tlireatens you, I order you immediately to surrender yourself, with all 
your garrison, stores, etc., etc., etc. For if I am obliged to storm, you 
may depend on such treatment as is justly due to a murderer. Beware of 
destroying stores of any kind, or any papers, or letters that are in your 
possession ; for, by heavens, if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you. 

(Signed) G. R. Clark. 

This note has the ring of a Grant to a Buckner. When to this 
note General Hamilton gave a negative reply, Clark's men sur- 
rounded the fort at a range of some sixty yards, and, with their 
consummate rifle skill, began to pick off the Britishers through 
every port-hole of the fort. One gunner after another fell with a 
bullet hole in his eye. Soon a flag of truce was sent out. The 
parley took place at St. Xavier's Church, and there the destiny of 
this state was settled. Hamilton offered to surrender on certain 



15 

conditions. Clark refused, and stated as one of his reasons that he 
wanted to be at liberty to punish, as he saw fit, Indian partisans 
who had been buying- American scalps. Major Hay asked him 
who the partisans Vere, to which Clark promptly replied that he 
regarded Major Hay as one of the chief est of them. This bold 
move on Clark's part had a magic effect. Hay turned pale and 
fairly trembled. Then Clark, realizing that the critical moment 
had arrived, relented and agreed to treat the captives as prisoners 
of war. To make still more certain of his disciplinary power over 
the British troops and the citizens of Vincennes, Clark caught 
four Indians who were coming in Avith the scalps of white men to 
deliver to Hamilton and had them tomahawked in sight of the 
fort and thrown into the river. The suiTender was made, and 
once more the flag of the Union went up on Indiana soil, February 
24, 1779, never again to be hauled down. Clark then became per- 
manently identified with the state which he created. He was 
austere and masterful, even cruel to the enemy where success 
depended upon it. He was known as the chief of the ^'Big Knife" 
troops, and yet he was most tender and tolerant. Both at Kaskas- 
kia and Vincennes his mastery was accompanied with an assurance 
of freedom of worship and broad liberties, but the flag must be 
respected. The Indians learned to trust him. They did not look 
for flattery or for presents. They looked for justice, and in ex- 
change for that, they were willing to give peace. 

The story of this heroic march, with all the skillful prelimin- 
aries and with all its magnificent consequences, will look well on 
the tablet by the side of the story of Washington. Let not the 
10th star shed less luster upon the flag of the Union than any other 
in our national constellation. As Lincoln's spirit rejoiced when 
Morton was sent to him, Washington's spirit will rejoice when 
George Rogers Clark is sent to him. 

The point has been raised that Clark was not a resident of the 
State of Indiana, ^^irginia, Kentucky and Indiana were common 
soil when he began his work. He saved this part of it to the 
nation. He was the cause of Indiana. As well ignore the work- 
man who builds the foundation for the house because he does not 
paint the window shutters as ignore Clark because he was not 
technically a resident when the state was finally admitted into the 
Union. If you wanted to send an allegorical statue there, you 



16 

could select no more appropriate design than the figure of George 
Rogers Clark standing under and supporting the great common- 
wealth of Indiana, as Atlas stands under and supports the earth. 
Clark resided on this soil from the time he conquered it in 17Y9 
until about the time the state was admitted. When a decrepit 
man, absolutely in his dotage, he was taken across the Ohio river 
to be cared for by his sister. If his country had reimbursed him 
for the money he had actually spent out of his own means — a 
claim which Clark himself said "was as just as the book we swear 
by" — he would not have been driven to such poverty and despair, 
and in all human probability his years would have been lengthened 
far into the period of Indiana's actual statehood. However, be 
that as it may, history is conclusive that at the time he crossed 
the river out of the state, his body and mind were both so en- 
feebled that his departure from this soil was not of his own voli- 
tion, and we may well regard him as being constructively a citizen 
of the state until his death in 1818. But we are not dealing with 
technicalities. The importance of his work towers above such 
groveling distinctions. And even this technicality, if it ever 
existed, has been removed from the minds of the people of our 
state. Clark has been taken into good fellowship as a citizen of 
the State of Indiana. The Soldiers' Monument Committee re- 
ported to the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, that the 
Indiana Society of the Sons of American Revolution had sug- 
gested, and the Grand Army of the Republic had concurred in the 
suggestion, that "the four foremost prominent epochs in Indiana 
military history be commemorated by the statue of the principal 
representative man of each epoch, viz. : (1) George Rogers Clark 
for the capture of Vincennes and the war of the revolution," etc. 
And the report was officially concurred in, as witness the bronze 
statue at the base of that splendid monument in yonder circle. 

You need have no fear but that the national congress will accept 
and welcome his statue in statuary hall. The intent of the law can 
not be taken to provide homage for one who has helped to preserve, 
while excluding one who has created. If we do not send him there, 
no other state will ; for, if his identity was not such as to entitle 
him to that sort of recognition by the hands and hearts of citizens 
of Indiana, then he had no identity that would entitle him to 
this recognition from any other state. Others can wait a good 



17 

many years yet, and still not be so tardy of reeognition at our 
hands as Clark. It will be 124 years this month since the flag we 
love was nnfnrled on the banks of the Wabash. We will not 
stand upon a technicality where the trne history that the muse can 
write is so inspiring. If we are going to stand upon technicalities 
at all, let us withhold our recognition from those who do not 
measure up to the full stature of patriotism required according to 
the example set by other states. But to show the narrow absurdity 
of the opposition, note that other states have ignored such objec- 
tions. Connecticut sent Jonathan Trumbull, though he had died 
in 1Y85, four years before there was any United States govern- 
ment ; and Rhode Island sent Roger Williams, who had been dead 
a hundred years before the end of the Revolutionary War. We 
must send Clark to the congress of the dead, for George Washing- 
ton wants him there. We must send him there because the lessons 
of his life will thus be accentuated and be learned by more people, 
and every time the heroism of George Rogers Clark is brought 
home to the youth, new, noble purposes are born, and new higher 
resolves are made. We are, therefore, not merely honoring the 
memory of Clark; not merely honoring our own regard for the 
traditions of our pioneer days, but in sending him there we are 
contributing an inspiration to the youth of our entire country 
which will result in a higher uplifting of national ideals. 

Shall we send Clark or Hendricks ? I am willing to leave it to 
George Washington. Shall we send Clark or Hendricks? I am 
willing to leave it to Abraham Lincoln. Shall we send Clark or 
Hendricks ? I am willing to leave it to Oliver P. Morton. I am 
willing to leave it to the old soldiers of the State of Indiana. I am 
willing to leave it to the sense of justice lodged in the hearts of 
the great overwhelming majority of the people of this State. Shall 
we send Clark or Hendricks? I am willing to leave it to you, gen- 
tlemen of the Senate, and to our co-ordinate workers on the other 
side of the Capitol ; willing to leave it to the members of the Sixty- 
third General Assembly of the State of Indiana who sit in these 
commodious, luxurious chambers, representatives of a great people 
whose happiness and prosperity are the ripened fruit borne upon 
the tree of liberty — planted in our soil by our benefactor, George 
Rogers Clark, whose motto was, as ours should be, "Do justice and 
fear not." 

2- 



speech by JVilliam R, ff^ood, Indiana Senate, 
February J, IQO3. 

Mk, Peesident: 

I wish to s])eak briefly in support of the majority report and its 
adoption. Objection has been had from the other side that parti- 
sanship has been injected into this discussion and into the consid- 
eration of this proposed measure. Who, may I inquire, has intro- 
duced partisanship into this consideration? Certainly it was not 
the author who framed this bilL Certainly there is nothing in the 
bill itself to suggest it. Certainly the character named is not sug- 
gestive of j)artisanship, but is suggestive of everything else beside 
it. Who, may I inquire, in this assembly knows what the political 
affiliation of George Eogers Clark was ? Was he a Democrat, or 
was he a Whig? We all perhaps will agree that he was not a 
Tory. Therefore, if partisanship has been injected into this dis- 
cussion and into the consideration of this measure, was it not in- 
jected by the minority side of this body in submitting a minority 
report wherein they ask that the name of Thomas A. Hendricks 
be substituted for George Rogers Clark? 

I am opposed to this substitution, not because Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks was a Democrat, but because he is not a fit subject to occupy 
in this historic place the niche that is set apart for an historic 
character from the State of Indiana. 

There were Democrats who by reason of their life work earned 
a place in this historic gallery. Where was Thomas A. Hendricks 
at the time when the little giant of Illinois was standing boside 
the immortal Lincoln, holding his hat, and at the same time with 
words of cheer upholding his hands when this country w^as enter- 
ing upon its greatest peril? Where was Thomas A. Hendricks 
during the four years of internal strife when the great Morton was 
asking for the loyal support of every loyal citizen within the con- 
fines of the State of Indiana ? 

We are told that Morton and Hendricks were friends while 
living. Is there any one who will pretend to say that during the 

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20 

.four and one-half years of the civil war Thomas A. Hendricks was 
ever called into his counsel by Oliver P. Morton ? 

The senator from Montgomery has read the act of Congress in- 
viting the several states to place in this statuary hall two repre- 
sentatives of their illustrious dead. The only possible qualifica- 
tion that Thomas A. Hendricks has to occupy one of these places 
is that he is dead. Certainly all that he contributed to history 
at a time when great men were doing great deeds would not re- 
dound to his credit. There comes in the life of but few men such 
an opportunity to show their greatness and their goodness as came 
to Thomas A. Hendricks. Why he did not avail himself of it the 
minority may iirform us, and possibly excuse him. That he did 
not avail himself of the opportunity is an historic fact. At the 
time when the cloud was the blackest, just before it was rifted 
and the silver lining appeared betokening the approach of a victo- 
rious ending of that great civil strife, Thomas A. Hendricks, to- 
gether with a number of other conspirators in convention assem- 
bled, proclaimed that the war was a failure, that peace should be 
restored at any price, whether it resulted in a disruption of the 
Union or not. In the name of the thousands of old soldiers still 
permitted to be among us, I protest against this substitution. In 
the name of the illustrious soldier sitting upon the minority side of 
this house, I protest against this substitution. 

What did Thomas A. Hendricks do to relieve the soldier during 
his long march, or during his tireless vigil? What comfort did he 
ever afford to the private soldier or to the general officer during all 
this time? Was it not he who said, "I do not intend to enter the 
army myself, nor will I advise any of my friends to enter it?" Is 
the man who would utter such words as these, when the very life 
of the nation was at stake, such a character as should be repre- 
sented by a marble statue in the statuary hall of the nation, or 
would we rather place there a representation of a man who spent 
his entire life in trying to build up the nation, and who never did a 
single thing in attempt to tear it down — a man, who, for thirty 
years battled against savage foes and foreign foes, against the ele- 
ments and of nature itself hew out of this great Northwest Terri- 
tory the proud State that we now boast as our commonwealth, and 
who lived within its confines until the ravages of disease had so be- 
clouded his mind and so weakened his body that he was no longer 



21 

his former self, and until a goodly sister, living in the adjoining 
state of Kentucky, came and gathered him to her arms, carried 
him to the home that he had provided for her, and there ministered 
with a loving sister's care until death gave surcease to the troubled 
body that had fought so long and so valiantly for his countrymen, 
a patriot ever, an enemy of his country, never. 

We will not abuse the opportunity that is afforded us. We will 
not place beside Morton the statue of a man who did nothing to 
uphold his hand and give him comfort during the long war of the 
rebellion. We will not place there a man who sought to destroy 
rather than to uphold the Union, but we will place there a statue 
of one of the greatest historic characters that the world has ever 
known. 

It is said that he was not a citizen. If that be true, we will 
adopt him now, for so closely is his name intermingled with all that 
is great and good in this commonwealth that there is no one who 
will deny his citizenship, and all our assembly should be proud to 
honor it, for, in doing this thing, he is honoring himself more than 
he can honor the memory of this mighty dead. 



speech by Thos. J. Lindiey, Indiana Senate^ 
February J, IQOJ. 

Mk. President: 

It had not been my purpose to speak on the pending" measure, 
until I have been requested to do so by some of my comrades. I 
can not express the pleasure it gives me to listen to the eloquent 
words of the young senators who have preceded me in this dis- 
cussion; those whose only knowledge of those trying days of the 
civil war has been gleaned from books or through stories of the 
war as related by soldier sires. 

There are a dozen ex-Union soldiers who are members of this 
body who lived in those troublous times, and whose bodies bear 
evidence of having passed through war's ordeal. I have an abid- 
ing faith in the present generation — in the young men of today. 
There is more patriotism to the square inch throughout our land 
than in any previous period of our country's history. 

Under provision of an act of Congress the statue of Indiana's 
great war governor, Oliver P. Morton, has been placed in the 
capitol at Washington, D. C. There yet remains one vacant 
place which, under the pending resolution, it is proposed shall be 
filled with the statue of the renowned George Rogers Clark. To 
this proposal our Democratic friends on the minority side of this 
chamber object, and move to substitute the name of Thomas A. 
Hendricks. 

The senator from Floyd suggests that if the name of George 
Rogers Clark shall be selected, some citizen of Indiana may at 
some time be embarrassed by the question, "Who was he?" In 
order that the senator may be fortified against such an emergency, 
I refer him for answer to the boys and girls of our common 
schools. 

The senator from Montgomery charges that Republicans are 
playing the part of "ghouls" in tearing from the grave the corpse 
of Mr. Hendricks and placing it upon public exhibition. 

The senator conmiits a grievous error. If Republicans could 
have their way there would be no resurrection either here or 

-23- 



24 

hereafter for him or such as he. Personally, I shall say that it 
would be a relief to me never again to liear his name uttered. 

Mr. President, why do we buikl monuments and carve statues? 
I answer, to commemorate deeds. The first query of the traveler 
when viewing a monument or statue is, ''To whom is it reared?" 
The second, "What did he do?" The traveler from a foreign land 
visiting the city of Washington, in pointing to the monument bear- 
ing that name, inquires, "What great deeds did he perform 
that his countrymen should pile polished stones to the skies to 
perpetuate his memory ?" Any patriotic citizen is proud of an op- 
portunity to answer the question. At Springfield, Illinois, is a 
beautiful monument pointing heavenward known as the Lincoln 
Monument. Should one by chance be found so ignorant as not to 
know what deeds Lincoln did for humanity, all true Americans 
will delight to recount the story of his matchless life. 

A short distance eastward from that beautiful temple stands 
the most magnificent monument in the world, erected to com- 
memorate the heroic deeds of more than 200,000 of the sons of 
the proud Hoosier State. Are you asked what noble deeds of 
daring did they perform that the people should pour out their 
precious treasures to build a memorial so costly? I answer, go to 
every cemetery in our broad land, ISTorth and South, and you mil 
find the sleeping place of those who died "for me and you, good 
friends ; for me and you." 

There is not a hill or valley in the sunny Southland but that has 
been drenched by the blood of those who died a vicarious offering. 

Within the very shadow of that great monument is a modest 
statue of a modest man, whose firm purpose and iron hand saved 
Indiana to the Union, despite the efforts of the satellites of Thomas 
A. Hendricks to plunge us "into the vortex of secession." 

What did Morton do ? To acknowledge ignorance is shameful. 

Mr. President, is it not unwarranted presumption in the mi- 
nority with this array of glorious precedents before them to even 
suggest the name of "Thomas A. Hendricks" as a suitable sub- 
ject for a statue to occupy a place beside Oliver Perry Morton in 
the nation's gallery? Before they are permitted to perform this 
sacrilegious deed, have, we not a right to demand of them "what 
deeds while living are placed to his credit that, now he is dead, 
shall entitle him to be remembered — aye, to be honored — above 
his fellow-men ?" 



25 

I challenge the Democratic minority to answer. I offer to sus- 
pend my remarks while you regale this honorable body with a re- 
cital of the public services of this man whom you affect to count 
worthy of this great distinction. Your profound silence is most 
eloquent. You sit speechless while your hero's public record is 
challenged. 

Thomas A. Hendricks is not the name of a benefactor of his 
country or his race. Thomas A. Hendricks was not the friend of 
the boys who wore the blue, of those who fell at Gettysburg, Shi- 
loli, Stone's River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, or starved 
in Andersonville or fell upon the fatal deadline pierced by a rebel 
bullet. 

We did not reckon as our friend a man who, during the most 
trying hour of that fratricidal struggle, could join in chanting the 
chorus proclaiming the "war a failure." A man who at the safe 
distance from the firing line could proclaim with supreme com- 
posure that, as he did not himself "enlist in the army to assist in 
subjugating our Southern brethren, he would not advise any one 
else to do so." N^o vote of mine shall ever be cagt in favor of 
doing honor to the memory of such a character. 

The senator from Montgomery asserts that Morton and Hen- 
dricks were friends. Possibly this is true, as only upon the ground 
of friendship can we understand why Governor Morton interposed 
his hand to save the life of Hendricks from the hands of the in- 
furiated Union soldiers when at home on veteran furlough when 
they were about to hang him for disloyalty. This is history. Has 
it been forgotten ? If so, it should not be. 

I shall vote to perpetuate the memory of the great pioneer, 
George Rogers Clark. 



speech by E. E. Hen dee, Indiana Senate, 
February J, IQOJ. 

Me. Peesidekt: 

When we consider the antecedent and historical facts making up 
the early days of Indiana, we are forced to the conclusion that 
Democracy has no name suitable to be placed in America's Hall of 
Fame at Washington. If an early pioneer is fit only for that place, 
indeed Republicanism has no name, for it was not until 1856 that 
the Republican party was born. 

The modern space is filled. Oliver P. Morton is great and grand 
and glorious enough to fill that space allotted to Indiana, or any 
other space where is proper the name of a great American. 

I do not like to rake over the ashes of a dying fire, but I know 
Indiana mil not sustain us, and we will not put in that rotunda 
any man who tried to tear the star of Indiana from the flag of the 
Union. 

We are to go, then, to the early days, and, going there, we find 
a man, though less than twenty-seven years of age, doing one of 
earth's sublimest and most lasting deeds — fit to be remembered 
when are told the deeds of the heroes of all tune. 

Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans, at Thermopylae, do- 
ing and gloriously dying for the freedom of Greece ; Arnold Von 
Winkleried, doing and gloriously dying for the freedom of Switz- 
erland ; George Washington a't Valley Forge and Jean Paul Jones 
on sea, doing and gloriously living for the freedom of America ; 
General Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga, and gallant Phil 
Sheridan, bringing victory at W^inchester, doing and gloriously 
living and preserving the Union that freedom might forever have 
a home. 

Ah, all these men and all these deeds were glorious. They have 
lived thousands of years, and will live thousands more ; aye, they 
will live so long as liberty has lips and freedom a voice. 

But glorious as were these deeds, Indiana can point to Vincennes 
and say, behold Col. George Rogers Clark, behold his deed — there. 



28 

there is our hero, worthy to stand beside them alL I say unto you 
that, in importance of enterprise, in battling for freedom's cause, 
in magnitude of results, in skill and bravery of leader and men in 
vicissitude heroically endured, Clark's retaking of Vincennes ranks 
as the climax of great and heroic things in Indiana and in the 
hearts of Indianians, 

He gave to freedom, to our fathers, to us and to our children, 
the State of Indiana. 

We find that the French then living in Vincennes helped Clark's, 
army of 170 to capture the fort. In this time of possible foreign 
war over the never-ending complications in Venezuela, it is inter- 
esting to note and remember that the French of old Vincennes 
were friends to the cause of freedom, and Clark's little army was 
the army of freedom ; so today if England and Germany and Italy 
push us into war, we may again look to France, and we will not 
look in vain, for that old love of freedom burns in the heart of 
France, even as burns the same love in the heart of America. 

So let us today throw about the statue of Clark in the Rotunda 
of Fame the stars and stripes of the United States, which is the 
flag of Indiana, and we will defy the army of time and the ravages 
of years to touch a hair of the fame — the immortal fame — of 
George Rogers Clark. 




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